Jan van Boendale

Jan van Boendale (c.1280 – c.1351), formerly sometimes known as Jan De Klerk ("Jan the Clerk") was a 14th-century secretary of the city of Antwerp and author of narrative and didactic verse.

[1] Two of his works, Brabantsche yeesten and Der leken spieghel, are listed in the Canon of Dutch Literature compiled by the Digital Library for Dutch Literature.

Jan was born in Boendale, near Tervuren, around 1280.

He moved to Antwerp, where he became secretary to the city council, and lived there until his death around 1351.

He undertook a number of diplomatic missions on behalf of the city of Antwerp or of the States of Brabant, and in 1332 was present in the entourage of John III, Duke of Brabant, at Heylissem.

Illustration from a manuscript of Boendale's Brabantsche yeesten
Excerpt form a manuscript of Der leken spieghel . Manufactured in the first half of the 15th century. Preserved in the University Library of Ghent . [ 2 ]